Kuntien johtoryhmän jäsenten työuupumuskertomuksia. Kiistäen, sinnitellen, selviytyen vai puolustaen?

Abstract

In this narrative study the burnout narratives of the members of three municipal management teams are explored. The aim of the study is to increase understanding and knowledge of the burnout phenomenon, and how the Finnish municipal management team members experience, see and give significance to burnout. The key scientific contribution of this study is in the management context based on the burnout stories of fourteen management team members of the municipal organization. The interviews are interpreted into four different kinds of burnout stories and burnout types: denier, persevering, recovered and defender. Burnout could be interpreted by the help of Maslach, Leiter and Schaufel's (2001) three-dimensional burnout symptoms, and Kalimo and Toppinen's (1997) burnout development model. The narratives were then added in the model of the dimensions of well-being developed by Peter Warr (1999), and supplemented by Jari Hakanen (2005) to describe the burnout stories. Burnout appears to each management team member in a different way, and there are different depths in understanding the burnout concept. The main argument of this study is that the significance of the burnout phenomenon is underestimated or not recognised at all. The phenomenon is either ignored or very difficult to perceive. The research also shows that burnout can be deliberately left unnoticed in the working organisation. The lack of support from the superior, management problems, and poor managing of the personnel, caused burnout. The findings in this study are directly applicable in the working life context. Burnout and coping problems should be openly dealt with as the phenomenon has to be recognised before it is possible to start improving the situation. The study results can be used in Finnish organisations and in the field of upper management, and e.g. in the management training of the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, Keva, towns, municipalities, and in occupational health service and specialist work.